Maps and Coffee
by red.elsr
Summary: Jasper needs Clarke's help. Possible future. Originally a one-shot but I couldn't stop writing so it's going to be a full-on adventure story.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Clarke understands maps, so when Jasper finds a collection of them in an abandoned house, she is the first person he goes to find. He checks the old drop ship, the medical bay, her apartment, and finally finds her frantically searching through Octavia's kitchen.

When Jasper walks in he finds Clarke attempting to make coffee using a broken French press and some ancient coffee beans she found in a pantry on one of their scavenging missions. Bellamy stands against the wall, arms crossed, and slightly bemused while engaging her in an active conversation on whether or not the coffee beans she found will poison whoever drinks said coffee.

"I'm just saying, they don't stay good forever and we have had our fair share of food-borne illness."

"I know that, I'm the one who has to stay up all night taking care of people when they get sick," Clarke shoots back at him. "But it's worth a shot, isn't it? Coffee does wonders for the human spirit."

Bellamy laughs, " Maybe if we have some good coffee people will actually wake up before the day is half over. Everyone's gotten lazy since we found real houses."

Only a couple of houses, actually. But it made people feel more safe knowing that there were places to go in case weather got bad again this year.

"Hey Clarke," Jasper walks straight in, startling the two leaders. "I have a request. I found some maps and papers while I was out mapping out the east quadrant. Think you can help me sift through them for anything useful?"

"Sure," she replies, eyes darting around the room for anything that could serve as an impromptu strainer, "just give me a minute."

"It's Octavia's 21st birthday tomorrow and in the absence of any decent alcohol Clarke here is attempting to conjure up one of Octavia's favorite drinks from the Ark." Bellamy explains, looking to Clarke then back to Jasper before continuing, "Although the Ark's coffee was fake so I'm not sure it will have the same effect."

He squats down to Clarke's level as she tears open a few bottom cabinets, "I'm still not convinced this won't poison my little sister. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yes," she snaps toward him. At his unconvinced look she continues on a little more reasonably, "I'll have Monty run some tests and then I'll sample it myself so you know if it's poisonous or not."

Bellamy looks distinctly uncomfortable at the idea of Clarke poisoning herself for the sake of Octavia's potential caffeine rush but is unable to deny that this present would make Octavia's month so he doesn't say a word. Instead he turns toward Jasper. "What kind of papers did you find?"

"Mostly maps. Some utility records. The maps are all different. We've got topographical layouts mixed in with old roadways and what looks like tourist guides." He goes on, "If we can somehow compile them, put all that information in one place, we could learn a ton about what this area used to be like."

"Which would mean fewer and potentially more fruitful scouting missions." Bellamy muses aloud. He looks tentatively excited about the idea. "God knows we could use a little more certainty about what kinds of places we're walking into. Having a thorough map of this region could put us a step ahead of the grounders for once."

"AH HA!" Clarke exclaims triumphantly, holding up a perfectly sized piece of wire mesh, fitting it into the impromptu coffee maker. She pours the prepared water into the glass, waiting a minute before pressing down to strain the coffee. A moment later she smells the mixture and smiles.

"It smells good. Try this, Bell."

"There's no way in hell I'm drinking that before it's tested," he says, before leaning down to smell it, "smells damn good though, you're right." He smiles a little to himself. Maybe this would actually work and he could finally do something for his sister's birthday that didn't involve making crafts out of sticks and leaves.

"Bellamy, would you mind carrying this out to Monty and tell him to test it out? He knows what to do, I just want to make sure it's at least mildly safe before serving it to people and potentially poisoning us all," she smiles, giving him a quick kiss, she then turns to Jasper as Bellamy carries the pot of suspect liquid out for Monty to test.

"So," she starts, "you have some maps for me?" She smiles and grabs Jasper by the arm. "Let's go see what we can make of what you've found."

Half an hour's worth of hiking later they enter the old drop ship where the maps are all piled up on their multi-use metal table. Clarke's eyes light up at the sight of all the maps and papers as she remembers a day on the Ark with her dad. They had forsaken work and school in favor of spending a day sifting through the Ark's computer archives. The one physical item they did have, however, was an old Atlas. She remembers her father pointing and describing in breathtaking detail different areas of the world. Dubrovnik, the perfect Mediterranean city, surrounded by blue water and filled with spicy food. Prague, famous for its music festivals, it's library, and its animated citizens. Valparaiso, a South American city famous for, among other things, it's rapid downhill bike race. She wonders if it would be possible for her to visit those places one day, to see what remains of those great civilizations, or if she should simply be glad she's able to make it through each day. Things are easier now than they began. The slow acquisition of housing, minimum electricity, and stable food sources made life a thousand times easier, as well as opened up opportunities for their community to piece together some sort of culture.

"…arke. Clarke? Earth to Clarke." She is pulled back into reality by Jasper's waving hand in front of her face.

"Hey. Yeah, sorry, lost in thought," she murmurs, Jasper giving her a curious look but opting to leave her to her memories. She begins to look over the materials.

A minute later. "So… any ideas on how we're going to put this together?" Jasper questions.

"Good lord," Clarke glances up, then back down. "This is good, Jasper. Really really good. Look here. This topography map covers fifteen square miles of that grounder territory beginning three miles west of camp. And here's an old agriculture report on what kinds of plants used to grow in this area."

Jasper nods, thinking of showing it to Monty, before Clarke interrupts his thoughts again.

"But this," she holds up a particularly battered, black-smeared, folded up piece of paper, "this here is a detailed map of the cave systems in the mountain two miles north. Reaper mountains. Can you imagine what we could do with this information?"

"We could move into the mountain for winter this year? Maybe with proper cover we wouldn't lose anyone." Jasper says, soberly remembering last year's death. One of the younger boys had lost a bet and slept far away from camp on a night when it froze. They'd found him the next day and everyone in camp had been shocked into upping the pace of their winter preparations. Despite that, they had been unable to justify relocating into the mountains when winter came. A lack of knowledge about the tunnels combined with the threat of the reapers had made it an impossible and foolhardy idea, more dangerous than the threat of the cold.

They have the houses now, and that changed things. But there were only a few. With a camp of over three hundred, fitting everyone inside would be impossible. It had been a win, but not a particularly satisfying one.

"Exactly. With this kind of information we could navigate the tunnels. If we could find a way to flush out the reapers, we could all move in there permanently. Think about it. Real shelter."

"What's going on here?" Bellamy interjects. He had apparently come in in time to hear only the very last bit of their conversation.

He strolls into the drop ship, giving Clarke a pointed look. "What do you mean, we can navigate the tunnels? I thought we agreed it was too dangerous to risk more of our people."

"We did. But that's just changed. Look at this," She hands him the tunnel map. He takes it, unfolding it and surveying the information, his eyes getting wide. "Are you certain this is the tunnel system for THAT mountain?"

"Remember that time when Finn and I had to escape reapers in those tunnels?" She says acidly, "I remember what those tunnels looked like. Yeah, it's the same place."

"That was years ago, Clarke." He looks uncertain. "Are you sure it isn't just wishful thinking? We have to be certain before we send anyone in there."

Clarke, annoyed, "Yes, I'm sure. It was a pretty damn unforgettable experience. I couldn't forget it if I tried, you know that." She gives Bellamy a pointed look. He of all people knows exactly how much that experience affected her. It invades her dreams and he is occasionally forced to wake her up in the middle of the night, reassuring her that she is safe, not back in the tunnels with those poor souls.

"Sorry for pushing," he relents.

"It's okay. You're right, my memory could be warped with time. We don't need to send anyone in there without being certain it's the right map." She pauses. "I'll go check it out. I'll take the map and make sure it's the right place."

"The hell you will. Not happening." Bellamy interjects. "You have no idea how you'll react to being back in those tunnels."

"I'm the only one who knows those tunnels. You don't get to tell me what to do here, Bell."

"Yes I do. In situations where you're biased, yes I do. You don't expect me to let you run into cannibal-infested tunnels by yourself."

"I'll take someone with me."

"I'm going."

"No. You're not. They need at least one of us here." She reasons. "I'll take Jasper." She glances over at the man in question, "You good with that?"

His eyes go big, not wanting to get in the middle of their argument, but he assents. "Yeah, I can go with you. I'm the one who found the maps and started all of this, after all."

Bellamy looks to Clarke then to Jasper.

"She gets hurt, you die." He warns, pushing aside the flap as he leaves on his way to make sure camp is running and everyone's working on what they should be.

"Bellamy's gotten both far less and way more terrifying since you two started dating, you know that?" Jasper mutters to Clarke.

She laughs, "Don't I know it. At least he halfway listens to me now."

He glances at her and then back toward where Bellamy just left, "Nah, he always listened to you. Even when he despised you he listened to what you said. Guess I should have known then that he thought of you differently than everyone else." Jasper muses. They stare off, both lost in thought.

Clarke shakes herself out of her reverie and looks up to Jasper, "Meet me by the gate in half an hour. Bring enough gear for an overnight trip. I'll go see if Raven finished those flashlights. We should try and get back by tomorrow afternoon so I can give Octavia that coffee," she flashes a smile and jogs off, leaving Jasper to grab the map and dash out toward his tent.


	2. Chapter 2

So I couldn't stop writing about this story - I love this pairing and this universe in general. I've also recently moved to a country with very poor internet and have a LOT of time just sitting around waiting for things to load (on the rare occasion I actually get internet) So I've written like twenty pages in the past two days.

Chapter 2

Bellamy makes his way out to Monty, carrying the small pot of experimental coffee Clarke had brewed not ten minutes earlier.

He'd never imagined his life going this way. Not when they got to Earth, and certainly not while still living on the Ark. With all of the stress of keeping Octavia hidden and the inherent secretiveness that surrounded his life on the Ark, he'd never had much chance to have a girlfriend, much less a partner like Clarke. Sure, he'd messed around with girls on the Ark, but Octavia's safety was far more important than any relationship he could have had so he'd never let himself get close to anyone. Then one day he made a mistake and his family was gone. He'd been too depressed to do anything but work and let his anger and frustration simmer.

Once they'd arrived on Earth it was as if his reservations were blown out of the water like the massive movement of Earth their drop ship landing caused.

He had Octavia. He had just signed his own death sentence and was on the run from the law. He was surrounded by horny teenagers who'd spent years on lockdown. Of _course_ he'd gone for it. At least that's what he tells himself as he slowly makes his way through camp, watching the former Ark citizens and the remainder of the original hundred working to make camp feel like a real town.

But now things are different. He and Clarke had had so many reservations about getting together in the beginning. Their original animosity turned camaraderie turned… whatever it is that they are now. Their physical relationship came quickly and naturally, but they were at each other's throats all too often for their emotional relationship to develop. Despite their doubts, they turned out to have too much in common, too many complementary mannerisms, to deny each other for long.

The people in camp gave them all manner of nicknames.

King and Queen. Mom and Dad. John Smith and Pocahontas.

He didn't mind so much, although Clarke had been (hilariously) annoyed at being named after "An ancient translator who'd abandoned her people, developed smallpox, and died early. How flattering."

Fact of the matter was, even after the arrival of the adults from the remains of the Ark, Clarke and Bellamy had stayed de facto leaders. The delinquents gathered around like usual to hear the night's speech and the adults had slowly joined in, just as confused as the hundred had been upon their arrival. Kane insisted on consulting more often than Bellamy liked, but they were the face of the camp and theirs was the final decision.

"Bellamy!"

He turns to see Abby Griffin rushing toward him, a hopeful look on her face.

"Do you know where Clarke is?" She asks, slightly out of breath.

Bellamy glances down at her hands, startled to see them covered in blood and some other substance he didn't want to think about. "She and Jasper are gone for the day on a mapping expedition. Is something wrong?"

Abby looks disappointed, "No, I just wanted her help. Lee's having her baby. I've been up all night with her and we're only about twenty minutes from the main event."

"...which explains her mildly disgusting hands," Bellamy thinks to himself.

Abby continues, "I know Clarke is friends with Lee, not to mention Clarke needs more experience delivering babies. We going to be getting a lot more now that people are starting to feel like it's safe enough to risk having them."

"And they'll be having more than one." Bellamy says casually, unable to fight that bitter feeling that surfaces every time he thinks about the fact that Octavia's existence had once been outlawed.

"Exactly," Abby replies, surveying her daughter's partner with interest.

Bellamy catches her looking at him. He holds up his hands, "Hey, no, Clarke and I are waiting for a long time. Neither of us have the time or the energy to take on children at the moment."

"Fair enough." Abby laughs at his alarm.

Suddenly a panicked man's voice yells for her, half-begging Abby to get back inside the med bay. She nods a farewell to Bellamy and dashes off to take care of Lee's pacing husband. She motions him inside and then follows.

Bellamy smiles a little, then turns away, returning to the path toward Monty's makeshift lab.

* * *

Jasper and Clarke pick their way through the forest, both too focused on their surroundings to put any effort into a conversation.

Clarke holds the tunnel map in her right hand, silently going over escape routes and trying to remember where she was when she and Finn had gotten out last time. It had been early morning, enough light out for them to see where they were, but both she and Finn had been sleep-deprived and more than a little traumatized by the day's events.

Clarke curses herself internally for allowing that to happen. She knows better now. She half-wishes she could go back, could put her present day knowledge into her old self. She would have known not to run blindly in the forest. She would have gotten more information out of the group at the campfire, would have taken advantage of the wealth of knowledge she could have learned from them. They'd thought she was going to die within minutes, they would have answered whatever she asked.

But what's in the past is finished. "There's no use beating myself up over mistakes I made three years ago." She reminds herself.

Once again she refocuses and moves onward, contenting herself with the knowledge that she'd done everything she could have with the knowledge she had at the time. If she hadn't had those experiences she never would have learned. She never would have faced the grim reality of their situation head on (at least not so soon), and that grim outlook had shaped her decision making for months afterward. Who knows how differently things might have turned out.

"Hey, so uh… what's the plan?" Jasper breaks their silence, "Are we going to just storm the place or what?"

Clarke glances at Jasper, amused. "No storming of the castle, no. I figured we'd stake out the entrances first. Grounders don't come here, so we won't have any problems with them," she knew she'd be looking out for them regardless, "and reapers don't typically leave the tunnels without a good reason. So we stay quiet, we find the exits, and then we start mapping out the tunnels immediately inside. Once we get a few details down we can match them to the map and see where we are."

"Good plan. One question, though. What happens if we do run into Reapers?"

"We run. Fast."

"Right."

"They only go out in large groups. We'd never stand a chance against ten of them, no matter how good you've gotten in weapons training."

Jasper gives her a huge smile, "You noticed! Thank god, I was beginning to think all my practice was going unseen."

Clarke laughs. "I'm not the only one who's noticed. I spotted Alice working very hard not to stare at you throughout practice."

"Really?" Jasper asks, looking a little delighted.

"Really. Ha, there something going on there?"

"We started dating last week. It's all pretty new, but I think she might be the one. Did you see her in archery lessons the other day? That woman could hit the head off a Queen Anne's Lace flower from 100 yards." Jasper boasts.

"I've seen her. You're right, she really is something else," Clarke continues, " You know, I think Bellamy was planning on asking her to go out with the hunting…"

A twig snaps not 20 feet away and Clarke stops talking, pulling Jasper down by the collar as she spots a small group of people in furs walking toward them.

"God damn it." She mutters, happy she brought a gun with her. She'll wait to use it, though. They're getting close to the base of the mountain and she doesn't want to signal their location to any reapers that might be close.

"I thought you said they don't come out here," Jasper breathes.

"They typically don't," she whispers back, "Let's just hope they haven't seen us yet."

As she and Jasper watch from their hiding spot, she notices that the group is comprised solely of young men, none of them older than sixteen. The boys all seem to be afflicted with the kind of nervousness that can only be found in people who are fully aware that they're doing something they shouldn't. She's seen the same look on the faces of many a delinquent since they arrived.

Following the group through the forest, she notices they are headed in the same direction she and Jasper had taken. Suddenly she's very glad she followed Bellamy's advice about avoiding using old Grounder trails.

The boys reach the base of the mountain and a debate starts. Eventually one gets pushed forward.

He begins apprehensively advancing toward the mouth of the tunnel.

Suddenly he lets out a wild yell, running straight into the darkness.

"Well shit, so much for subtlety." Jasper mutters.

"No, no, no, no, no," Clarke murmurs as the rest of the boys follow suit. "Stupid kids are ruining our plan. We better get up in one of these trees – reapers are going to be out soon and we're too tired from the hike to outrun them right now."

She and Jasper glance around until they find an appropriately sturdy oak with leaves that will conceal them from wandering eyes.

Not five minutes later, they hear rapid footsteps. Clarke tries to figure out how many people are coming, but all she can tell is that it is far more than the six boys that originally set out into the tunnel. She and Jasper shift enough to see straight down, realizing that there is now a small army of reapers dashing underneath their tree, seemingly chasing the young men who ventured into the cave.

What seems like ages later (although it might have been minutes), they return. Grumbling obscenities to themselves, pushing and fighting and snarling, the reapers return to the tunnels, carrying one of the Grounder boys with them. He looks no older than fourteen, and is putting up a hell of a fight.

Clarke and Jasper stare wide-eyed as they carry him into the darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Thanks, man." Bellamy remarks to Monty, dropping off the coffee for him to analyze, "I know this'll mean the world to O."

"No problem. I'd love to be able to have real coffee as well. Promise I get the second cup?" he requests, "that is assuming it's safe to drink."

"It's yours. Now make it work."

* * *

"What do you think happened back there? Why did those boys provoke the Reapers? Some kind of rite of passage ritual? Maybe the Reapers captured one of their friends and they were trying to get him out?" Jasper peppers Clarke with ideas and questions as they quickly make their way back to camp.

"I'm thinking ritual." Clarke says, "Or maybe just adolescent stupidity."

She's angry that they were unable to figure out if the map was relevant. Part of her wanted to go ahead and map out the area, but she wasn't about to risk following the wild reapers into the mountain, particularly when she knew there were likely some lingering around the entrance. More than she is angry, though, she's disturbed. Clarke knows that boy's fate and all she has been able to think about the whole trip back is how long he might have until the reapers decide to eat him.

As they finally reach the gate, she hears a familiar voice.

"Clarke! Jasper!"

They turn to see Octavia dashing toward them, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey, what's going on?" Clarke can't help but smile back. Something about Octavia's endless enthusiasm is infectious, and no matter the unpleasant events of the day she finds herself caught up in O's good mood. Jasper gives Octavia a hug, wishes her a happy early birthday, and runs ahead to go find Alice.

"Lee had her baby!" Octavia squeals, "It's a girl and she's already adorable. Follow me, I'll take you to see her."

The two girls jog into camp, dashing down the halls of the med bay. After a brief reunion and lots of wishing them congratulations, Clarke leaves Lee and her husband with Octavia to coo over the child (Clarke never was too interested in fussing over babies) and begins her walk to find him.

She doesn't have to look for long.

"Clarke."

Thank god. She turns to see Bellamy walking purposefully toward her. "You're back early. Did something happen? Did your mom find you? Where's Jasper?"

Clarke looks at him, feeling some of the heaviness of the day lifting off her shoulders at the sound of his voice. Funny how after all this time he still has this effect on her.

"Hold on to all those questions for a sec," she says quietly, pulling him down to her. Recovering from his surprise at her rather out-of-character public display of affection, he gives in to the kiss and holds her while they embrace near the gate. She pulls back after a long moment and looks at him steadily. "We have a lot to talk about."

* * *

Abby only saw her daughter long enough to give her a quick hug before Clarke was dashing out to find Bellamy. She could tell there was something bothering her, but Abby knew enough not to press for information.

When Mecha station fell to Earth they landed in the middle of a chaotic disaster. She had nursed Bellamy and the other boy, Finn, back to health before learning that her daughter had been taken by mountain men. One very long, very complicated and extremely foolhardy scheme later, they'd recovered most of their people from the Mt. Weather facility.

At that point, Bellamy and Clarke had never been romantic. But they were efficient and balanced leaders in a way that impressed Abby. She always knew Clarke was strong, had expected her to become a doctor and a council member like her parents, but she'd never expected that in a few short months her daughter could transform into a leader of men. Abby didn't quite know how to handle it, aside from going along with the changes and accepting that the young adults were no longer the children she and the rest of the council had so desperately sent to Earth.

Which led her to her current situation. She and Clarke had had problems to work through, and heaven knows Abby had a lot to apologize for, but for the time being they seem to have reached a state of mutual respect.

Abby departs the med bay, leaving Lee to rest, and goes outside to look around for her daughter. She watches as Clarke disappears around the corner with Bellamy, seemingly headed for their apartment. She smiles, shaking her head as she re-enters the med bay, heading for the area containing long-term patients.

She glances toward the bed at the end, finding the other original boy she'd found. Finn. He sits on the edge of Raven Reyes' bed, handing her pieces of metal and electrical wiring while they murmur to each other. As she watches Raven piece together bits of an old projector, Abby wonders how long this peace will last.

* * *

They return to their apartment in the center of the small settlement. Bellamy waits by the counter as Clarke sits down at the table, gathering her thoughts. She looks up and begins to tell him about her and Jasper's Grounder-vs-Reaper encounter in the woods.

"I wish I could have done something. Stopped them somehow. You should have seen him, Bell. That kid knew what was going to happen to him. He was so scared and we couldn't help him."

"You did the right thing coming back here. You know damn well there was nothing to be done." Bellamy says, trying not to let the concern leak into his voice.

"It _is_ curious, though," he continues, words coming out slowly as he thinks, "Why would they rush the tunnels?"

"That's what Jasper and I were discussing on the way back. He thinks it might have been a rescue mission, but I don't think so. They weren't quiet. They _wanted_ the Reapers to know they were there. I thought it could have been a ritual, some kind of informal 'becoming a man' hazing practice among the young men in the Grounders' tribe."

"It's possible," Bellamy muses, "but I don't think so. Maybe it was a little of both. It sounds like a diversion."

Clarke glances up to him. "A diversion?"

"Think about it. They know exactly how messed up the Reapers are; so making extra noise to get their attention is pointless suicide unless it was with a purpose. The boys could have been the diversion for a real rescue mission – drawing the reapers away from their area, allowing other Grounders to go in and retrieve their own who had been lost to the mines."

"Interesting theory. Still doesn't explain why the Grounders are suddenly interested in getting their lost people out of the tunnels. They've never risked it before this," Clarke replies, standing to face him. She walks slowly to stand right in front of him, lacing her fingers through his and leaning full body into him. "Whatever the case, I'm glad to be home. Today was a little too familiar."

"I knew I should have gone. Are you doing okay?" He speaks into her hair, using their intertwined hands to hold her close to him as they lean against the counter.

"A little shaky, but altogether I handled it far better than I imagined I would." Clarke thinks on that then continues,

"Apparently nothing shakes me anymore. I suppose earth life is making me resilient." She says bitterly.

Bellamy smiles a little at her unintentional challenge. "Nothing?" he says, kissing her softly just below her ear. He knows that it'll help get her mind off the tunnels, not to mention he plain wants to kiss her. He thinks about it approximately 107% of the time.

She smiles at his attempts to divert her attention, and as he makes his way down her neck she sighs a bit and has to admit it's working.

Clarke pulls him up to kiss him full on, slowly turning and hopping up on the counter for easier access. He smiles against her lips as she runs her hands underneath his shirt. She slowly pulls it off, lazily kissing her way up his chest as she goes.

This proves to be too much and he is far less gentle in tugging off her long-sleeved henley before grabbing her thighs and jerking her towards him. She instinctively wraps her legs around his waist, knowing his (likely) intentions. She's proven right when he goes ahead and pulls her off the counter, never breaking their kiss. She holds on, one hand in his hair and the other wrapped around his shoulder and back in an effort to stable herself.

As they make their way to the bedroom, they are interrupted by a loud knocking.

"Bellamy! Clarke! Get decent and get out here. We've got company." Octavia yells through the door before dashing down the stairs.

"Fantastic." Bellamy groans, slowly setting Clarke down.

"We'll continue this later," She reassures him, giving him a hard kiss for proof (like he needed any. There's no way in hell he isn't finishing it later, but he'll not complain about her methods). They stand there for a moment, leaning into each other before moving to pick their cast-off clothing up off the floor.

"Bell?"

"Yeah."

"Where's my shirt?"

He smirks as he glances around, pulling it off the top of the refrigerator. Clarke takes it, laughing, and pulls it on. "I'd never have found that."

"Maybe I just like depriving you of clothing to wear." He grins at her.

They make their way downstairs and run outside to find the camp in a panic.

"Get out of the way." Bellamy shouts, "Let us through."

The crowd parts for them as they make their way into the clearing around the unwelcome guest. Clarke is stunned by the face of the young boy who she'd seen carried off into the Grounder tunnels earlier that morning.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Clarke thinks fast, working through her options.

How…? …can't let anyone close to this who we don't trust… need to talk to him... far away… secure location… Then it comes to her.

The drop ship. We're going old school.

She keeps a straight face. Looking up to Miller, she coolly instructs, "Get him to our old drop ship."

Bellamy grabs her elbow, "Wait, what? Who is this?"

"This is the boy the reapers carried into the mountain today," she whispers to him, "I need to find out how he got out and why he's here. Preferably away from prying eyes."

He looks up to the expectant crowd and then back down to her, nodding.

"Okay everyone. Clarke and I are going to need a few people with us to help transport the Grounder. Any volunteers?"

A few hands shoot up, but most everyone holds back, looking nervous about having a Grounder in the outskirts of the little makeshift town.

"Martin, Rose, and John, then. Everyone else get back to work." Clarke says, dismissing the rest of the large crowd.

"Cover his eyes." Bellamy orders, "we can't risk letting him see any more details of camp than he's already seen."

He's a little pissed they haven't done it already but suspects no one wanted to go near the Grounder. They have quite the reputation around camp. The young Grounder boys in particular are famous for being violent – trying to prove something to their people, no doubt. That's part of what was so striking about the nervousness of the young men Clarke was describing this morning. Grounder boys were reckless. They didn't get scared without a very good reason.

"You're not going to attack us, are you?" Clarke already knows the answer as she gazes down at the boy.

"No."

His voice is sure.

Clarke and Bellamy look to each other before setting out for the long walk to the drop ship.

* * *

"Any particular reason you chose this place?" Bellamy asks her, annoyed at the long distance it's taken to walk back to their original camp.

"I think I left a jar of seaweed paste there when we left and I've been meaning to go back and get it."

He gives her a sour look.

She laughs and continues, "Exactly like I said back in town. It's far away from prying eyes. It also has the added bonus of being easy to secure and is more than a little symbolic."

"Symbolic of what?"

"Our survival."

He stops. "Wait a second, you dragged us out here for symbolism?"

She pauses beside him, glancing back at the rest of their party, "I dragged you out here for my seaweed paste. And a little for symbolism, yes."

"Clarke, that's ridiculous. We don't need symbolism, we need answers. Answers we could have gotten out of him while back in town."

She resumes walking, searching for forgotten hunting traps and snakes as she makes her way through the brush, "We also needed to get him away from the people in town. You know as well as I do how much people hate and fear Grounders. I didn't want some vigilante doing something stupid in the name of justice."

"Coming out here was too big a risk. You need to pay attention to those kinds of decisions, I might not always be around to make sure you pay attention."

"There's no need to be patronizing." She says angrily, "I needed to get him away from people and we have history at the old camp. It made sense. Since when did you become such a pessimist?"

Bellamy has no reply to that other than heavy silence.

Before they know it they're trudging through the remains of their old camp and abruptly facing the old drop ship.

It's a place full of memories; some good, some distinctly unpleasant. Bellamy rubs his neck, thinking of his last encounter with Murphy. He hasn't seen him in a long time, not since he almost died and then watched as that traitor's back disappeared from the blown-out third level of the drop ship. Clarke notices his discomfort, grabbing his hand and squeezing it to reassure him.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Figures creep toward the town.

Why were they here? Who do these aliens they think they are? Coming into our territory… claiming it as their own… cutting down our trees to construct their homes…

They don't deserve to be here. They'll pay for taking our resources, our trees.

They'll pay dearly.

* * *

Octavia leaves the med bay eventually, after finally finding the will to tear herself away from Lee and Mark's new baby.

She feels like she'll never get enough of life on Earth. Most days she's able to adapt fast enough make people forget she grew up underneath a floor hatch.

But sometimes she'll find herself in social situations where she'll have to watch a little too closely and someone will notice. They'll see her stumble over her feet again and again in dances they were all forced to memorize as children and they'll remember why she never got a chance to practice.

Sometimes it happens when she gets so absorbed in a new phenomenon (like those damn glowing butterflies) that she'll forget about her surroundings completely. Someone will yell to her before she crashes into something (typically sharp and metal, in her unlucky experience). They'll look at her, wondering how she could focus so intensely that she completely forgot where she was for an extended period of time. Then they'll remember. That look, a cross between pity and discomfort, will cross their face. She has an incredible focus because she would have gone crazy with boredom if she didn't adapt quickly to spending her entire life in one room.

But most of the time she has them fooled. She fools everyone but Bellamy. Occasionally Clarke sees past her walls, having gained intimate knowledge of their family since becoming part of it, but not with near as much accuracy as Bellamy. He knows her better than anyone else ever will.

Maybe not everyone.

Lincoln. The first time she met him he had had that same lost look in his eyes that she did and she connected the dots. He lived alone in the forest despite obviously being a part of a large village. He felt more sympathy for a group of aliens than his own people. He was an outcast. He was different. Like her.

He'd felt the same about her. Had told her so on multiple occasions.

But she hasn't seen Lincoln since the fight of Mount Weather.

Two years and she can still picture his face so clearly, hear his voice the moment he told her his name for the first time. She thinks about him occasionally, she misses him.

But she isn't the type to pine.

She hasn't been with anyone else since, in large part because she has been studying hard and interning with Abby so frequently that she's barely had time to sleep, much less begin a new relationship (or so she tells everyone else).

He might be dead. He might be alive. He's probably dead. He'd have come to find her were he alive.

"Stop it," she commands herself, "You'll get nowhere with those terrible thoughts. Dangerous thoughts."

Yes, this is a beautiful new world and she is not about to miss a moment of it. She had adventures planned out that she fully intends to complete. She'll catch that damn water monster, she'll find and catalogue the rest of the bioluminescent creatures, and she'll hike all the way to the top of a conquered Mount Weather and scream out into the void (to name a few).

If only she weren't alone in her adventures.


End file.
